The Dublin government is now threatening to deport immigrants on the grounds that their marriages to Irish citizens have broken down.

Women who have worked legally in the republic for several years face being kicked out of the country because their partners have left them and their children.

Notices of deportation were served within days of the Citizenship Referendum restricting access to Irish passports for the children of immigrants born on the island after 1998.

Zimbabwean-born Darlene Blume, a 31-year-old mother of two, was one of those to receive a letter from the Department of Justice. The letter arrived at her flat in north west Dublin on 21 June, the day of her wedding anniversary.

The letter states that the Justice Minister Michael McDowell is not satisfied that you are residing with your Irish citizen spouse in the State as part of a family unit and accordingly, you are a person whose deportation would, in the opinion of the Minister, be conducive to the common good'.

Darlene arrived in Ireland with her husband - the son of Irish and Zimbabwean parents - in June 2001. Because her spouse held an Irish passport she was able to work legally and obtained a job in customer relations for Aer Lingus at Dublin Airport. Six months later she brought over her two children from a previous relationship, Roshaun and Kimberly, to Dublin from Harare.

She claims her husband walked out on her and the children at the beginning of this year, leaving her and them in a legal limbo.

'I begged and pleaded with him to stay but he will not come back. There is nothing more I can do because I can't force him to return to us. All of this was not my fault and yet my children and I are being threatened with deportation.'

Glancing nervously towards the living room front window in expectation of the postman who will deliver the response to her appeal from the Department of Justice, Darlene said: 'Why can't the department treat each case individually and look into our circumstances? I married my husband for love back in Zimbabwe not for convenience. I was persuaded to go to Ireland back in 2001.'

Neatly attired in a pinstripe business suit, her Aer Lingus identity card clipped to her waist, Darlene explained that she is not only the breadwinner for her children but also her elderly parents in Zimbabwe.

'I have worked to build a new life for the kids here in Dublin and I also send home money to my parents in Harare. The world knows about the shortages and the poverty in Zimbabwe. Is that what the department wants to send us back to?'

'What I can't understand since I got this letter is the impression that all of this was my fault. I couldn't help our marriage from failing. We have been here now three years and the letter arrives on our wedding anniversary. I never knew that once my husband was no longer living with me that I would have to inform the Department of Justice. Anyway, I really hoped he would come back so there was no need for me to inform anyone that he had left the house.'

Darlene's work colleagues, her local TD Joe Higgins and the headteacher at Kimberley's primary school have written to the Department of Justice urging the minister to let the Blumes stay in Ireland.

Roshaun, 14, who uses his father's surname Kelly, has excelled at St Declan's College in north Dublin and is an accomplished footballer. Wearing an Arsenal shirt and unshaven upper lip to make him look like his hero Thierry Henry, Roshaun said Zimbabwe was no longer his home. 'I've just started playing for Dingle FC, a team up here, and I love living here. All my friends are here. I don't want to be sent back to Zimbabwe,' he said.

Darlene and her children are reluctant to make comments about the regime of Robert Mugabe for fear of ZANU-PF retribution against family back in Harare.

'There is nothing for Kimberley and Roshaun back in Zimbabwe. If I took them back there I would completely ruin their lives especially since the regime targets young people,' Darlene said.

Darlene added that she was worried that her legal working status may also be under threat due to her husband leaving. 'I came to Ireland to work for a living, pay tax and be a good citizen. Now I don't even know if I can work legally any more, let alone have a long-term future in this country.'

So desperate are she and her children to avoid returning to Zimbabwe that Darlene is prepared to travel to the UK and claim political asylum. 'I'm speaking out because there are other women out there married to Irish citizens whose relationships break down and then face deportation. It is not right and it is not fair to blame me for my husband walking out.'

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said that, while they could not discuss individual cases, people could appeal against deportation rulings.